GOP fights for MN House as second Dem candidate faces residency challenge

Minnesota Democrats are already embroiled in an ugly battle for control of the state House after a judge ruled one of their newly elected members was ineligible to hold office for not living in the district he won.

Now, another Democratic candidate faces a residency challenge, but this time in the race for the Senate District 60 seat to replace former Majority Leader Kari Dzeidzic, who died of cancer last month, leaving the Senate tied 33-33.

Mohamed Jama, a potential top contender in a crowded special election to represent the safely Democratic district in northeast Minneapolis and Cedar-Riverside, likely does not meet the residency requirements according to state voter data.

Sonia Neculescu, a former DFL House candidate and resident of the district, filed a challenge to his candidacy with the state Supreme Court on Monday alleging Jama registered to vote on Election Day in neighboring Senate District 63 in November.

Under state law, candidates must live in the district they’re running to represent for at least six months prior to the election.

Jama did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment.

Jama listed his address as “private” on his filing for candidacy, although all candidates must sign an affidavit that they meet the residency requirements.

According to Neculescu’s challenge, the Senate DFL Caucus campaign reached out to Jama’s campaign manager, Jacob Hooper, on Jan. 2 to confirm that he met the residency requirements.

Hooper replied that Jama has lived in Senate District 60 for six months but is not registered to vote there.

“He did vote in 2024 but used old address because this was during process of moving,” Hooper wrote, according to the challenge.

But that defense raises the prospect that Jama illegally voted where he doesn’t live.

Neculescu is asking the state Supreme Court to declare Jama ineligible to hold the office and direct the county to not print ballots with his name on them.

The dispute over Jama’s residency could delay the special primary scheduled for Jan. 14 and the special election for Jan. 28, though challenging Jama’s residency before the party endorsement and primary election saves Democrats from potentially repeating the embarrassing mistake they made in Johnson’s race of backing an ineligible candidate.

Jama’s campaign website describes him as a “community leader, passionate grassroots organizer and relentless housing advocate.”

Before running for office, he co-founded the Cedar Riverside Youth Council and served on the boards of the West Bank Community Coalition and the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.

In 2014, he was part of a brawl at a DFL caucus event in Cedar-Riverside that sent then-party activist Ilhan Omar to the hospital with a concussion, according to a MinnPost story from the time. Jama alleged Omar slapped him, which Omar denied, saying a group of women attacked her.